"May Day occurs on May 1 and refers to several public holidays. In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations organised by the unions, anarchists, and socialist groups. May Day is also a traditional holiday in many cultures."

In the U.K.: "The May Day bank holiday was created in 1978. In February 2011 the UK Parliament was reported to be considering scrapping the bank holiday associated with May Day, replacing it with a bank holiday in October, possibly co-inciding with Trafalgar Day (celebrated on the 21st October), to create a 'United Kingdom Day'."

So, not a horribly long tradition for a bank holiday, still, a goodly portion of most current UK workers' lives.

"May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1 that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers' Day, or Labour Day. The idea for a "workers holiday" began in Australia in 1856; after a Stonemason's victory, April 22nd was "Eight-Hour Day", a public holiday. With the idea having spread around the world, the choice of May 1st became a commemoration by the Second International for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair [a general strike in Chicago which lead to eventual the public hanging of four anarchists.]. ... "Although the commemoration of May Day as International Workers' Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1 as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day's perceived appropriation by the Soviet Union."

Further, in the U.S., "The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on August 26, 1878, in Boston, by the Central Labor Union of New York, the nation's first integrated major trade union. It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. The September date originally chosen by the CLU of NY and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, for which it had been observed to commemorate. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories had made it a statutory holiday."

Hmmm... not too sure about that. There may have been a long tradition of celebrating the beginning of summer -- I doubt if is was necessarily associated with 1st May. And it wouldn't have had an "International Labour Day" connotation.

Me? Pragmatism dictates it falls too near to Easter and Whitsuntide, so a day a bit later in the year helps spread the long weekend breaks around the year.

May day festivals as a workers' resolve to glory event smacks a bit of Lenin, old men getting the salute whilst missiles are paraded through the square and South America dictators telling their people it's for their own good.

However, my childhood recollections are of dancing around the maypole, (our school actually had one, albeit a portable one put up in the gym,) and more recently, a beer festival nearby.

Sorry, I don't see a Eaton conspiracy round each corner, and if I did, it would be for more tangible reasons such as using the financial situation to push through policies based on dogma rather than pragmatism.

May day? I reckon the PM has a point, it might be better for tourism. After all, he got his predictions from the tourism industry who have been lobbying for a rethink of holidays, and it is easier to move a secular day than to upset the God botherers.

"The 1st of May historicaly has been the traditional holiday of Spring. During the Industrialization of the Nineteenth Century, it became an International Day of Solidarity for workers of all countries.

The 1st of May began to be widely celebrated with various groups of workers joining together and paying tribute to the memory of victims of oppression and for the rights of all oppressed workers irrespective of their nationality, sex, age and/or profession. In it's convention of 1888 the "American Federation of Labour" declared, that May the1st should become a day for the active struggle of workers for the eight-hour work day.

Strikes and Demonstrations were held worldwide. Later, in the former Soviet Union, this holiday was widely and actively celebrated with huge parades and political speaches on Red Square in Moscow and in all other cities.

All workers of the Soviet Union including university and school students, were obligated to attend the parades, bringing flowers, balloons and posters. Non compliance was met with severe persecution.

Now in many of the CIS countries, including Ukraine, you can still find some political gathering to celebrate May Day. At this time however, this holiday has become a celebration as the day of triumph for "Nature", from which is a full bloom with birds' singing, trees budding, and multicolored flowers painting the countryside. In this celebration people look forward to warm weather and the joys of summer."

For me the thought of extra holiday for Easter and May is a great thought until we get to August knowing that it is going to be the last one until Christmas. It is the one at the end of May that they could move because most of the annual holidays are taken between then and August anyway as a rule. October can be a gorgeous month and it often is the only summer we get in the UK! And I suppose it can soften the blow before the clocks go back, that's of course if they do that this year. On the downside I can see the prices of things being more expensive purposely because children are home as well. So there are fors and againsts really. It is slightly selfish but I like to be able to get around to different guest houses in October in different parts of the countryside knowing that it is going to be cheaper than peak season or when the Bank Holidays are. It all depends where you are at in life.

A simple answer to please everyone bar the Condems and leaders of indstry. In the UK we are short of public holidays in comparison with most of Europe. I Cameron et al wish to boost the tourist industry in October - give us a new holiday then How it will improve tourism from abroad I can't quite follow few tourists will be aware of the dates of UK public hols and if so should avoid them like the plague - reduced rail, bus, etc services, roads clogged with traffic, rail and road works under way,need I go on.

willie you must have wrote that when you were steamin'. What about poor workin' men like me that have to live on the pittance wealthy men like you drop on us so can live high on the hog whilst we grovel in dirt?

I'm confused. What has the date of bank holidays have to do with whether or not tourists visit UK? Do visitors look at their diaries and say to themselves - we can't visit UK in October as there isn't a bank holiday the week we are thinking of arriving?????